Lunch on the Promenade...

Pics of the Brian Lara Promenade taken during my lunch hour today.

Twin Towers aka Eric Williams Financial Complex

Nicholas Tower
owned by Issa Nicholas

One of the new Government buildings
(this one close to the Hyatt)

A next Government building...
this one is part of the Government Campus Plaza...I think

Unit Trust Corporation

Renovations Update: Are We There Yet?

So here's the update...

Bathroom:

Tiling started on Wednesday and finished on Friday.

My tiles look FAB! and my bathroom is now my favorite room in the house.

Bathroom tiled and toilet installed

My plumber came on Sunday and started installing the toilet and the shower. He has to come back this week and put in the sink and finish up his part.

Ceiling:
My ceiling was started on Thursday last week and when I got home I was very pleased to see that most of the rooms in the house were done. The ceiling looked GREAT.

Ceiling in living/dining/kitchen area

Then I took a look at the moulding that was put up and had to do a double take as they guys had installed plain white moulding in the boys' room, but white and gold moulding everywhere else.

Nasty white and gold moulding

I was NOT feeling that white and gold AT ALL, so I had to call up my ceiling guy to tell him one time.

Apparently when they went to purchase the plain white moulding they only got enough for one room, so they made the decision to go with white and gold to 'expedite' the project and they thought it complimented the ceiling.
Hello?
Without consulting the woman who have to watch up at that ceiling for the next 10 years? Eh eh.


After a couple of phone calls I told them in no uncertain terms that the moulding had to be changed and they needed to find a solution. By the time I got home on Friday my moulding was all white and I was happy.

Electricians:

The electricians now have to come back and finish pull their wires and afix their fixtures.

To date, the electricians have been my worst workmen.

I say this not because they working slow or anything, they are actually working pretty well. I say it because they are the most untidy.

After my main contractors had completed their work they always swept up and threw away whatever rubble they made. Not the electricians...Eh eh.

They break parts of my wall, not whole wall eh...parts...to run their new wiring and left more dust and rubble over my house that my other contractors.

The one room in my house where I had everything stored to keep it 'safe' from dust, now has the most dust in my house.

Not to mention that they break one of meh scented candles.

Not to mention that they break meh brand new broom.

Not to mention that they put up some ugly ass fixtures (they have to take them down) in front the house. (like they eh make out my FAB! door or what?)

Not to mention that in taking pics of the FAB! door yesterday I noticed that the ugly ass fixtures not put up straight..one higher than the next! Hello?

High and low fixtures

*sigh*

I did mention to them (very nicely I might add) that when they were finished taking down their wires and so forth that they could move the rubble into the yard and they did do this last week. But my entire house is now dusty thanks to my electricians.

And they have plenty work to re-do cause like they breathless and just doing want they want.

That's the update for now.

I am still looking for someone to do my kitchen cupboards for me, so if you know anyone, drop me an email at afro.chic@hotmail.com.

Renovations Update...

Since my last update with purchasing the tiles, we've had to fire our tile guy and source a next tile guy. So my tiles have been sitting down collecting dust.

The new tile guy came to visit and gave us his quotation for doing the work and has said he is 'swamped' right now and has promised to come next Wednesday. *crosses fingers*

I finally purchased a FAB! shower mixer for my bathroom as well (sorry no pics), and my plumber (daddy) came and installed the pipes in the bathroom last Saturday.

In the meantime there's been some back and forth between my ceiling guys and electricians. My ceiling guys came on Good Friday to frame up for the ceiling, then had to wait on the electricians to continue pulling their wires etc.


That was finished yesterday and my ceiling guys promised to come back today to finish put up my ceiling.


The ceiling that I finally decided on is the PVC ceiling in two finishes. One for the living/dining/kitchen area and one for the bedrooms and bathroom area.

PVC ceiling samples

(Top left) Living/dining/kitchen area

(Bottom left) Bedrooms and bathroom

I've been hearing mixed reviews about the PVC ceiling, but I like the samples of the work I've seen and it's way less dust than my original choice of gypsum.

When the ceiling is installed, the electricians have to come back AGAIN, the finish pulling wires and installing their fixtures.

Once THAT is done I can FINALLY start cleaning up my house *crosses fingers* and move back into my home :)

My Birthday Weekend...

This Saturday Afro Chic turned 30 and celebrations began from Friday night.


Friday
On Friday I met with some of my facebook / blogger / triniscene peeps at Zanzibar in Movietowne. The bill came up to a whopping $1800 for the 10 or so of us!

This was my first time going to Zanzibar and I found the food to be pretty decent (I had the Seafood Mofongo and the Chicken Wings), but the service we got on Friday wasn’t that great.

Our waitress kept disappearing mid-order and it took us about ½ hour or more to get or food.
I had made a reservation for 7 o’clock and although I called twice to confirm, no one told me I would lose my reservation after 15 minutes. They did accommodate us with a bigger table after we requested one though.
Zanzibar gets a 6.5 out of 10.

Saturday
The birthday morning saw me going to the hardware to purchase thinset and grout and other tile related stuff after which I went to Crowne Plaza Face and Body Clinic for my massage and pedicure.

The massage was FANTASTIC.
You know a massage is good when you bepp off during the massage! I fell asleep and didn’t even realize it until the masseur was gently waking me up to tell me she was done!

After the massage, I headed to get my pedicure.
The pedicure left much to be desired. I like my feet to be scrubbed and rubbed and massaged well…I eh get that. I didn’t even get my nails filed or buffed.
The polish was done very well though, but I probably would not go back there for a pedicure.

It was my first time going to Face & Body Clinic and my first impression left a lot to be desired. I found the place felt more like a doctor’s office than a relaxing get away that a spa should be.
Face & Body Clinic gets a 6 out of 10.

Saturday night the hubby took me to Paprika. We had gone there previously on our anniversary last year and found the food and service to be excellent.
This time the service was lacking just a bit, but it was still good.

Paprika gets a 8.5 out of 10.

Sunday

Sunday night my girlfriend and I went to Central Bank Auditorium to view the Raymond Choo Kong play "We Like It So!"

The play was tres entertaining and had patrons laughing from start to finish, but it's not just comedy...it's a look at life in Trinidad and how we accept mediocrity because after all "We Like It So!".

The play was nothing short of excellent and I would advise you to go see it if it makes another run.

The cast of We Like It So! are, clockwise from the top, Raymond Choo Kong, Conrad Parris, Mairoon Ali and Penelope Spencer.

Pic from Newsday.

Overall it was a very enojyable birthday weekend.